Ilia Topuria will face Charles Oliveira, not Islam Makhachev, for the vacant light-weight title at UFC 317 principal occasion.
Ilia Topuria will look so as to add a second Final Combating Championship belt to his assortment when he headlines UFC 317 on June 28 – it simply gained’t be towards Islam Makhachev.
After weeks of heightened anticipation for a possible blockbuster face-off between the famous person pair, Topuria, a former undisputed featherweight champ, will now battle former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant light-weight title, UFC CEO Dana White introduced on Tuesday.
Makhachev, a four-time defending champion, will vacate the light-weight belt to maneuver as much as welterweight to face newly topped Jack Della Maddalena, who defeated Belal Muhammad final Saturday at UFC 315 to turn into the brand new title holder within the weight class. The date for that battle has but to be introduced.
Topuria has an ideal UFC report of 16-0. The Spaniard relinquished his 145-pound (66kg) featherweight title earlier this yr in anticipation of a light-weight title showdown towards Makhachev and took to social media to voice his displeasure on the Russian vacating his title belt.
“On June 29, one other dream will come true,” Topuria wrote. “I’ll be the champion of the light-weight division. Charles (Oliveira), my apologies prematurely… I’m simply preventing for my desires. It’s unlucky that Makhachev ran away.”
Makhachev, who sports activities a 27-1 UFC report, is ranked by ESPN as the very best pound-for-pound UFC fighter on this planet; Topuria is ranked quantity two.
UFC 317 is scheduled to happen at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas.
Islam Makhachev’s subsequent battle might be towards Jack Della Maddalena within the welterweight class, quite than IIia Topuria within the light-weight class, after the Russian vacated his light-weight title to maneuver up a weight class (File: Kamran Jebreili/AP)
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